US20170087568A1 - Spout apparatus - Google Patents

Spout apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
US20170087568A1
US20170087568A1 US15/271,740 US201615271740A US2017087568A1 US 20170087568 A1 US20170087568 A1 US 20170087568A1 US 201615271740 A US201615271740 A US 201615271740A US 2017087568 A1 US2017087568 A1 US 2017087568A1
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United States
Prior art keywords
passageway
water
vortex street
hot
flow
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Abandoned
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US15/271,740
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English (en)
Inventor
Katsuya NAGATA
Kiyotake Ukigai
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Toto Ltd
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Toto Ltd
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Assigned to TOTO LTD. reassignment TOTO LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: NAGATA, KATSUYA, UKIGAI, KIYOTAKE
Publication of US20170087568A1 publication Critical patent/US20170087568A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/34—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means designed to influence the nature of flow of the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. to produce swirl
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/14—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with multiple outlet openings; with strainers in or outside the outlet opening
    • B05B1/20—Arrangements of several outlets along elongated bodies, e.g. perforated pipes or troughs, e.g. spray booms; Outlet elements therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/14—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with multiple outlet openings; with strainers in or outside the outlet opening
    • B05B1/18—Roses; Shower heads
    • B05B1/185—Roses; Shower heads characterised by their outlet element; Mounting arrangements therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/02—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means designed to produce a jet, spray, or other discharge of particular shape or nature, e.g. in single drops, or having an outlet of particular shape
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/02—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means designed to produce a jet, spray, or other discharge of particular shape or nature, e.g. in single drops, or having an outlet of particular shape
    • B05B1/08—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means designed to produce a jet, spray, or other discharge of particular shape or nature, e.g. in single drops, or having an outlet of particular shape of pulsating nature, e.g. delivering liquid in successive separate quantities ; Fluidic oscillators
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/34—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means designed to influence the nature of flow of the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. to produce swirl
    • B05B1/3405—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means designed to influence the nature of flow of the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. to produce swirl to produce swirl
    • B05B15/065—

Definitions

  • the present invention pertains to a spout apparatus, and more particularly to a spout apparatus for discharging hot or cold water from a spouting port while causing it to oscillate with a reciprocal motion.
  • shower heads in which the direction of hot or cold water spouted from a spouting port changes in an oscillating manner are known.
  • a nozzle is driven in an oscillating manner by the supply force of supplied water, causing the direction of hot or cold water spouted from a spouting port to change.
  • hot or cold water can be jetted from a single spouting port over a wide area, enabling the achievement in a compact constitution of a spout apparatus capable of spouting over a wide range.
  • a warm water flush toilet seat apparatus is presented in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application 2000-120141 (Patent Document 1).
  • a self-oscillation is induced by a fluidic element nozzle, thus changing the direction in which flush water is jetted.
  • feedback flow paths 104 are provided on both sides of the spray nozzle 102 .
  • Each of the feedback flow paths 104 is a loop-shaped flow path communicating with the spray nozzle 102 , and a portion of the flush water flowing through the spray nozzle 102 flows in and circulates therein.
  • the spray nozzle 102 is shaped to widen in a tapered form toward a spray port 102 a having an elliptical cross section.
  • the flush water sprayed from spray nozzle 102 is drawn by the Coanda effect to the wall surface on one side or the other of the elliptical cross section spray port 102 a and sprayed so as to follow this wall (state “a” in FIG. 9 ).
  • the flush water also flows into the feedback flowpath 104 on the side on which the flush water is being sprayed, and pressure inside the feedback flowpath 104 rises. Due to the rise in pressure, sprayed flush water is pushed, flush water is drawn to the wall surface on the opposite side and sprayed along the wall surface on the opposite side ( FIG. 9 , state “a” ⁇ “b” ⁇ “c”).
  • a pure fluidic element is set forth in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application 2004-275985 (Patent Document 2).
  • a linking duct which traverses the fluid jet nozzle is provided; the operation of this linking duct causes an alternating rise in pressure on the upper and lower sides of the fluid jet nozzle. Due to the Coanda effect, the jet current pushed by this pressure rise becomes a jet current along the top plate of the spray jet nozzle, or along the bottom plate thereof; these states are repeated at a certain cycle, becoming a flow in which the spray direction changes in an oscillating manner.
  • an oscillating spray apparatus is set forth in Japanese Published Examined Patent Application S.58-49300 (Patent Document 3).
  • This oscillating spray apparatus has the constitution shown in FIG. 10 ; by using the Karman vortex produced inside an anterior chamber 110 , the direction of the jet flow sprayed from an outlet 112 is changed in an oscillating manner.
  • a fluid which has flowed into the anterior chamber 110 from an intake port 114 collides with a triangular cross section obstacle 116 placed in an island formation inside the anterior chamber 110 .
  • a Karman vortex is alternately produced downstream of the obstacle 116 on the upper and lower sides of the obstacle 116 , forming a vortex street.
  • This Karman vortex street reaches outlet 112 as it grows. Close to the outlet 112 , the flow velocity on the side where the vortex street vortex is present speeds up, whereas the flow velocity on the opposite side slows. In the example shown in FIG. 10 , Karman vortexes are alternately created on the upper and lower sides of the obstacle 116 , and this vortex street sequentially reaches up to the outlet 112 , therefore a high flow velocity state is alternately produced on the upper and lower sides in the vicinity of the outlet 112 .
  • the fluid in a high flow velocity state collides with a wall surface 110 a on the upper side of the outlet 112 and its direction is changed, whereas the fluid sprayed from the outlet 112 becomes a jet flow which in total is directed diagonally downward.
  • the fluid in a high flow velocity state collides with a wall surface 110 b on the lower side of the outlet 112 , and a jet flow is sprayed from the outlet 112 in a diagonally upward direction.
  • the alternating repetition of these states results in a reciprocating oscillation during spraying from the outlet 112 .
  • a spout apparatus such as a shower head
  • the feeling of being under the sprayed hot or cold water is not comfortable.
  • the “good shower comfort” targeted by the inventors refers to a state whereby large droplets of hot or cold water are evenly spouted over a wide area.
  • Patent Documents 1 and 2 takes advantage of the Coanda effect, whereby a jetted fluid flows along a wall surface, producing an unevenness in fluid sprayed within the discharge area.
  • a jetted fluid flows along a wall surface, producing an unevenness in fluid sprayed within the discharge area.
  • sprayed flush water transitions between states a, b, and c, but in actuality the length of the a and c states, when the jet flow is drawn to the wall surface for a long period, is long; whereas the intervening periods (close to state b) are extremely short.
  • the present invention therefore has the object of providing a spout apparatus with a simple and compact structure, capable of supplying an easy-to-use water spouting.
  • the present invention is a spout apparatus for discharging hot or cold water with reciprocal motion from a spouting port, comprising: a spout apparatus main body; and an oscillation inducing element disposed on the spout apparatus main body, for discharging supplied hot or cold water with reciprocal motion; wherein the oscillation inducing element comprises: a water supply passageway into which hot or cold water supplied from the spout apparatus main body flows; a water collision portion disposed on a downstream end portion of the water supply passageway so as to block a portion of a cross section of the water supply passageway, the water collision portion alternately produces oppositely circulating vortexes on the downstream side of the water collision portion by colliding with hot or cold water guided by the water supply passageway, a vortex street passageway disposed on the downstream side of the water supply passageway for guiding and growing the vortexes formed by the water collision portion; and a flow-aligning passageway disposed on the downstream side of the vortex street
  • water spouted from a spout apparatus can be made to oscillate with a reciprocal motion by an oscillation inducing element, enabling hot or cold water to be discharged over a wide area from a single spouting port, using a compact and simple structure.
  • the spout water direction can be changed without moving the discharging nozzle, allowing the spout apparatus to be constituted without wear or similar problems in the moving portions, at a low cost and high durability.
  • an easily usable spout apparatus can be constituted without a high dependency on the amount of hot or cold water spouted. I.e., hot or cold water flowing inside the vortex street passageway flows along this tapered wall surface, and the direction of hot or cold water flow is regulated to a direction generally along the tapered wall surface, whereby changes in spout area caused by flow volume changes are suppressed , and the spout area can be made substantially constant.
  • the spouting obtained in this way was a “hollow” one in which the water volume in the peripheral part of the spout area was high and the water volume close to the center was low, resulting in a poor showering sensation. This is believed to occur because the Coanda effect is produced by hot or cold water flowing along a tapered wall surface, so that spout water concentrates in the periphery of the spout area.
  • the inventors therefore adopted a structure in which opposing wall surfaces in the vortex street passageway are tapered over their entirety.
  • the inventors succeeded in evenly distributing droplets over the spouting area without the hot or cold water flowing in the vortex street passageway pressing against the wall surface at a high pressure, and with the Coanda effect suppressed during outflows from the flow-aligning passageway.
  • a downstream end of the water collision portion is positioned at a downstream side of an upstream end of the vortex street passageway.
  • the downstream end of the water collision portion is disposed further downstream than the upstream end of the vortex street passageway, therefore the tapered vortex street passageway is formed starting further upstream than the downstream end of the water collision portion, and vortexes formed by the water collision portion can be effectively guided.
  • hot or cold water flowing through the vortex street passageway is not pressed against the tapered wall surface of the vortex street passageway at high pressure, and the Coanda effect acting on discharged hot or cold water can be reduced.
  • a upstream end of the water collision portion is positioned at an upstream side of an upstream end of the vortex street passageway.
  • the upstream end of the water collision portion is disposed further upstream than the upstream end of the vortex street passageway, therefore the upstream end of the water collision portion is positioned further upstream than the vortex street passageway, and vortex streets can be efficiently formed by the water collision portion.
  • the pair of opposing wall surfaces of the vortex street passageway is sloped by 3° to 25° relative to a center axis line of the vortex street passageway.
  • a spout apparatus with good usability can be compactly constituted using a simple structure.
  • FIG. 1 A perspective view showing the exterior appearance of a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 A full cross sectional view of a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 A perspective view showing the exterior appearance of an oscillation inducing element provided in a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4A A plan view cross section of an oscillation inducing element in a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4B A vertical cross section of an oscillation inducing element.
  • FIG. 5A-5C A diagram showing a fluid simulation result analyzing the flow of hot or cold water in an oscillation inducing element provided in a shower head according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6A-6C A diagram showing a fluid simulation result analyzing the flow of hot or cold water in an oscillation inducing element having the structure shown in FIG. 10 .
  • FIG. 7A An example of a stroboscopic photograph showing the flow of hot or cold water discharged from a single oscillation inducing element provided in a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 7B A comparative example of a stroboscopic photograph showing the flow of hot or cold water discharged from an oscillation inducing element having the structure shown in FIG. 10 .
  • FIG. 8A A plan view cross section of an oscillation inducing element in a second embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 8B A vertical cross section of an oscillation inducing element.
  • FIG. 9 A diagram showing the operation of the fluidic element set forth in Patent Document 1.
  • FIG. 10 A diagram showing the constitution of the fluidic element set forth in Patent Document 3.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance of a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a full cross section of a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance of a fluidic element provided in a shower head according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4A is a plan view cross section of an oscillation inducing element in a first embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 4B is a vertical cross section of an oscillation inducing element.
  • the shower head 1 of the present embodiment has a shower head main body 2 , being an approximately cylindrical spout apparatus, and seven oscillation inducing elements 4 , arrayed and embedded in a straight line in the axial direction inside the shower head main body 2 .
  • the shower head 1 of the present embodiment discharges hot or cold water from the spout water ports 4 a on each oscillation inducing element 4 .
  • hot or cold water is discharged from each spouting port 4 a so as to form a fan shape having a predetermined center angle within a plane approximately perpendicular to the center axis line of the shower head main body 2 .
  • the water conduit-forming member 6 is an approximately cylindrical member, and is constituted to form a flow path for hot or cold water supplied into the shower head main body 2 .
  • a shower hose connecting member 6 a is watertightly sealed to the base end portion of the water conduit-forming member 6 .
  • the end portion of the water conduit-forming member 6 is notched into a semi-circular cross sectional shape, and the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 is disposed in this notched part.
  • the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 is approximately a semi-cylindrical member; a round cylinder is formed by the placement in the notched portion of the water conduit-forming member 6 .
  • a packing 6 b is disposed between the water conduit-forming member 6 and the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 , and watertightness is secured between these two.
  • seven element insertion holes 8 a for holding each oscillation inducing element 4 are formed in a straight line in the axial direction at substantially equal spacing on the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 .
  • Hot or cold water flowing into the water conduit-forming member 6 by this means flows in at the rear side of each oscillation inducing element 4 held to the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 , and is discharged from the spouting port 4 a disposed on the front.
  • Each element insertion hole 8 a is placed so as to tilt slightly relative to a plane perpendicular to the center axis line of the shower head main body 2 , and hot or cold water sprayed from each oscillation inducing element 4 is discharged so as to as a whole spread out slightly in the axial direction of the shower head main body 2 .
  • the oscillation inducing element 4 is generally a thin, rectangular parallelepiped member; an elongated spouting port 4 a is disposed at the end surface on the front side thereof, and a flange portion 4 b is formed at the end portion on the rear surface side thereof.
  • the flange portion 4 b and channel 4 c are disposed to encircle the perimeter of the oscillation inducing element 4 .
  • An O-ring (not shown) is inserted into this channel 4 c , securing watertightness relative to the element insertion holes 8 a on the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 .
  • the oscillation inducing element 4 is positioned relative to the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 , and is prevented by the flange portion 4 b from falling off the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 due to water pressure.
  • FIG. 4A is a cross section seen along line A-A in FIG. 3 ;
  • FIG. 4B is a cross sectional diagram along line B-B in FIG. 3 .
  • a passageway with a rectangular cross section is formed on the inside of the oscillation inducing element 4 so as to penetrate in the longitudinal direction.
  • This passageway is formed, in order from the upstream side, by the inlet portion water supply passageway 10 a , the vortex street passageway 10 b , and the flow-aligning passageway 10 c.
  • the water supply passageway 10 a is a straight line passageway with a substantially constant rectangular cross section, extending from the inflow port 4 d on the rear surface side of the oscillation inducing element 4 .
  • the vortex street passageway 10 b is a rectangular cross section passageway disposed to connect (steplessly) to the water supply passageway 10 a on the downstream side of the water supply passageway 10 a .
  • the device end of the water supply passageway 10 a and the upstream end of the vortex street passageway 10 b have the same dimensions and shapes.
  • the pair of opposing wall surfaces (wall surfaces on both sides) of vortex street passageway 10 b are tapered so that toward the downstream side, the flow path cross section narrows over the entire vortex street passageway 10 b .
  • the vortex street passageway 10 b is constituted to narrow toward the downstream side, gradually narrowing in width.
  • the flow-aligning passageway 10 c is a rectangular cross section passageway disposed on the downstream side to communicate with the vortex street passageway 10 b ; it is formed in a straight line, with a fixed cross section. Hot or cold water including vortex streets guided by the vortex street passageway 10 b is aligned by this flow-aligning passageway 10 c and discharged from the spouting port 4 a .
  • the flow path cross section of this flow-aligning passageway 10 c is constituted to be smaller than the flow path cross section of the downstream end portion of the vortex street passageway 10 b, and a step portion 12 is formed between the vortex street passageway 10 b and the flow-aligning passageway 10 c.
  • the wall surfaces (ceiling surface and floor surface), opposing one another in the height direction of the water supply passageway 10 a, the vortex street passageway 10 b, and the flow-aligning passageway 10 c are all disposed on the same plane. I.e., the heights of the water supply passageway 10 a, vortex street passageway 10 b, and flow-aligning passageway 10 c are all the same, and are fixed.
  • a water collision portion 14 is formed on the downstream end portion of the water supply passageway 10 a (close to the connecting portion of the water supply passageway 10 a and the vortex street passageway 10 b ); this water collision portion 14 is disposed to block a portion of the flow path cross section of the water supply passageway 10 a .
  • This water collision portion 14 is a triangular columnar part extending so as to link to opposing wall surfaces (ceiling surface and floor surface) in the height direction of the water supply passageway 10 a, and is disposed in an island shape at the center in the width direction of the water supply passageway 10 a.
  • the cross section of the water collision portion 14 is formed in an isosceles right triangle shape; the hypotenuse thereof is disposed to be perpendicular to the center axis line of the water supply passageway 10 a, and the right angle part of the isosceles right triangle is disposed to face downstream. Placement of this water collision portion 14 produces a Karman vortex on the downstream side thereof, causing hot or cold water discharged from the spouting port 4 a to oscillate with a reciprocal motion.
  • the right isosceles triangle hypotenuse part of the water collision portion 14 (the upstream end of the water collision portion 14 ) is positioned further upstream than the upstream end of the vortex street passageway 10 b, and the right angle part of the right isosceles triangle (the downstream end of the water collision portion 14 ) is disposed to be further downstream than the upstream end of the vortex street passageway 10 b.
  • the angle formed between the vortex street passageway 10 b side wall surface and the center axis line is approximately 7°.
  • the angle formed by the side wall surface and the center axis line is preferably between approximately 3° and 25°.
  • FIGS. 5A-5C through 7A-7B we explain the operation of a shower head 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5A-5C is a diagram showing a fluid simulation result analyzing the flow of hot or cold water in an oscillation inducing element 4 provided in a shower head 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6A-6C is a diagram showing a fluid simulation result analyzing the flow of hot or cold water in an oscillation inducing element having the structure shown in FIG. 10 .
  • FIG. 7A is an example of a stroboscopic photograph showing the flow of hot or cold water discharged from a single oscillation inducing element 4 provided on the shower head 1 in an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 7B is a comparative example of a stroboscopic photograph showing the flow of hot or cold water discharged from an oscillation inducing element having the structure shown in FIG. 10 .
  • Hot or cold water supplied from a shower hose flows into the water conduit-forming member 6 inside the shower head main body 2 ( FIG. 2 ), then further flows into the inflow port 4 d of each oscillation inducing element 4 held by the oscillation inducing element holding member 8 .
  • Hot or cold water which has flowed into the water supply passageway 10 a from the oscillation inducing element 4 inflow port 4 d collides with the water collision portion 14 , which is disposed to block a portion of that flow path.
  • Karman vortex trains are thus alternately formed.
  • the Karman vortex formed by this water collision portion 14 grows as it is guided by the vortex street passageway 10 b , which narrows in a tapered shape, and reaches the flow-aligning passageway 10 c.
  • FIG. 5A through 5C The results of analysis by fluid simulation of the flow of hot or cold water in the vortex street passageway 10 b are shown in FIG. 5A through 5C .
  • a vortex is produced on the downstream sides of the water collision portion 14 , and the flow velocity is faster in that part.
  • These high flow velocity parts (the dense colored part in FIG. 5A-5C ) alternately appear on both side of the water collision portion 14 and advance along the wall surface of the vortex street passageway 10 b toward the spouting port 4 a .
  • the flow of hot or cold water which has flowed into the flow-aligning passageway 10 c on the downstream side of the vortex street passageway 10 b is aligned here.
  • Hot or cold water discharged from the spouting port 4 a through the flow-aligning passageway 10 c is directed to turn based on the flow velocity distribution in the spouting port 4 a , and the discharge direction of the high flow velocity part thereof changes depending on the up and down movement shown in FIG. 5A-5C .
  • the hot or cold water is sprayed downward; when the high flow velocity part thereof is positioned at the bottom end of the spouting port 4 a , hot or cold water is sprayed upward.
  • a step portion 12 is placed between the vortex street passageway 10 b and the flow-aligning passageway 10 c , the flow along the tapered wall surface of the vortex street passageway 10 b is here separated and flows into the flow-aligning passageway 10 c .
  • the separation of the flow from the wall surface by this step portion 12 results in suppression of the Coanda effect occurring at the wall surface of the flow-aligning passageway 10 c , so that hot or cold water discharged from the spouting port 4 a is moved smoothly back and forth.
  • the step portion 12 operates as a separating portion, separating off the flow along the vortex street passageway 10 b wall surface and suppressing the Coanda effect.
  • FIG. 7A in a stroboscopic photograph showing the flow of hot or cold water discharged from an oscillation inducing element 4 in the present embodiment, a clean sinusoidal flow is obtained because the spout direction moves smoothly back and forth.
  • hot or cold water discharged from an oscillation inducing element having the structure shown in FIG. 10 shown as a comparative example in FIG. 7B , although it does oscillate with a reciprocal motion, is curved in a arc shape. This is because the change in hot or cold water discharge direction is not smooth; the duration of time with the deflection angle at maximum is long, and the duration of the jet flow moving time in the period of the maximum deflection angle is short.
  • a shower spouting can be obtained providing a good shower sensation can be obtained, with which large liquid droplets are discharged uniformly over a wide area.
  • FIG. 8A-8B we explain a shower head according to a second embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 8A is a plan view cross section of an oscillation inducing element in a second embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 8B is a vertical cross section of an oscillation inducing element.
  • a passageway with a rectangular cross section is formed on the inside of the oscillation inducing element 20 so as to penetrate in the longitudinal direction.
  • This passageway is formed, in order from the upstream side, by the inlet portion water supply passageway 22 a , the vortex street passageway 22 b , and the flow-aligning passageway 22 c.
  • the water supply passageway 22 a is a straight line passageway with a substantially constant rectangular cross section, extending from the inflow port 20 d on the rear surface side of the oscillation inducing element 20 .
  • the vortex street passageway 22 b is a rectangular cross section passageway disposed to connect to the water supply passageway 22 a on the downstream side of the water supply passageway 22 a .
  • the device end of the water supply passageway 22 a and the upstream end of the vortex street passageway 22 b have the same dimensions and shapes.
  • the pair of vortex street passageway 22 b opposing wall surfaces are tapered so that the flow path cross section narrows toward the downstream side.
  • the vortex street passageway 22 b is constituted to gradually narrow in width to become narrower toward the downstream side.
  • the flow-aligning passageway 22 c is a rectangular cross section passageway disposed on the downstream side to connect to the downstream end of the vortex street passageway 22 b ; it is formed in a straight line, with a fixed cross section. Therefore the flow-aligning passageway 22 c has the same dimensions and shape as the downstream end of the vortex street passageway 22 b , and also has the same flow path cross section.
  • the wall surfaces (ceiling surface and floor surface) in opposition in the height direction of the water supply conduit 22 a , the street passageway 22 b , and the fluid alignment pathway 22 c are all disposed in the same plane. I.e., the heights of the water supply passageway 22 a , the vortex street passageway 22 b , and the flow-aligning passageway 22 c are all the same, and are fixed.
  • a water collision portion 24 is disposed on the downstream end portion of the water supply passageway 22 a (close to the connecting portion between the water supply passageway 22 a and the vortex street passageway 22 b ) so as to block a portion of the flow path cross section of the water supply passageway 22 a .
  • This water collision portion 24 is a triangular columnar part extending so as to link to opposing wall surfaces (ceiling surface and floor surface) in the height direction of the water supply passageway 22 a , and is disposed in an island shape at the center in the width direction of the water supply passageway 22 a .
  • the cross section of the water collision portion 24 is formed in an isosceles right triangle shape; the hypotenuse thereof is disposed to be perpendicular to the center axis line of the water supply passageway 22 a , and the right angle part of the cross section is disposed to face downstream. Placing this water collision portion 24 produces a Karman vortex on the downstream side thereof, and hot or cold water discharged from the spout water port 20 a is reciprocally oscillated.
  • the angle formed between the vortex street passageway 22 b side wall surface and the center axis line is approximately 7°.
  • the angle formed by the side wall surface and the center axis line is preferably between approximately 3° and 25°.
  • the step portion 12 (separating portion) of the first embodiment is not disposed in the oscillation inducing element 20 of the present embodiment, but even in this embodiment hot or cold water discharged from the spouting port 20 a is oscillated back and forth in an appropriate angular range, and the spout area varies greatly depending on the flow volume of discharged hot or cold water.
  • the taper angle (angle ⁇ ) in the vortex street passageway 22 b is relatively small, so the hot or cold water flowing inside the vortex street passageway 22 b is not pushed against the side wall surface by a strong force.
  • This is thought to be because the flow of hot or cold water is thereby sufficiently separated in the flow-aligning passageway 22 c connecting forward from the vortex street passageway 22 b , such that the Coanda effect is suppressed.
  • hot or cold water discharged from a showerhead 1 can be made to oscillate reciprocally by oscillation inducing elements ( 4 , 20 ), therefore hot or cold water can be discharged over a wide area from a single spout port using a compact and simple structure.
  • the flow path cross section of opposing wall surfaces in the vortex street passageways ( 10 b , 22 b ) inside the oscillation inducing element 4 is tapered so as to narrow, therefore a showerhead 1 with good usability can be constituted without large changes in the spouting area dependent on hot or cold water spout flow volume.
  • the vortex street passageways ( 10 b , 22 b ) are disposed further upstream than the downstream end of the water collision portions ( 14 , 24 ), therefore tapered vortex street passageways ( 10 b , 22 b ) are formed further upstream than the downstream end of the water collision portions ( 14 , 24 ), and vortexes formed by the water collision portions ( 14 , 24 ) can be effectively guided.
  • hot or cold water flowing through the vortex street passageways ( 10 b , 22 b ) is not pressed against the tapered wall surface of the vortex street passageway at high pressure, and the Coanda effect acting on discharged hot or cold water can be reduced.
  • the vortex street passageways ( 10 b , 22 b ) are disposed further downstream than the upstream end of the collision portions ( 14 , 24 ), therefore the upstream end of the water collision portions ( 14 , 24 ) is positioned further upstream than the tapered vortex street passageways ( 10 b , 22 b ), and vortex streets can be efficiently formed by the water collision portions ( 14 , 24 ).
  • the invention was applied to a shower head, but the invention may also be applied to any desired spout apparatus, such as a faucet apparatus used in a kitchen sink or washbasin, or a warm water flush apparatus installed on a toilet seat, or the like.
  • any desired spout apparatus such as a faucet apparatus used in a kitchen sink or washbasin, or a warm water flush apparatus installed on a toilet seat, or the like.
  • multiple oscillation inducing elements were provided in a shower head, but any desired number of oscillation inducing elements may be provided in the spout apparatus according to application, and a spout apparatus comprising a single oscillation inducing element may also be constituted.
  • the oscillation inducing element passageway uses terms such as “width” and “height” for convenience, but these terms do not define the direction in which the oscillation inducing element is disposed; the oscillation inducing element may be oriented in any desired direction.
  • the oscillation inducing element may also be used by orienting the “height” in the above-described embodiment in the horizontal direction.

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  • Nozzles (AREA)
  • Bathtubs, Showers, And Their Attachments (AREA)
US15/271,740 2015-09-30 2016-09-21 Spout apparatus Abandoned US20170087568A1 (en)

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JP2015194251A JP6681015B2 (ja) 2015-09-30 2015-09-30 吐水装置

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Cited By (1)

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US11739517B2 (en) 2019-05-17 2023-08-29 Kohler Co. Fluidics devices for plumbing fixtures

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US4151955A (en) * 1977-10-25 1979-05-01 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Oscillating spray device
US5035361A (en) * 1977-10-25 1991-07-30 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluid dispersal device and method
US5853624A (en) * 1997-02-12 1998-12-29 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluidic spray nozzles for use in cooling towers and the like
US20060065765A1 (en) * 2004-09-24 2006-03-30 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluidic nozzle for trigger spray applications
US20110233301A1 (en) * 2009-07-28 2011-09-29 Bowles Fluidics Corporation (A Md Corporation) Rain can style showerhead assembly incorporating eddy filter for flow conditioning in fluidic circuits

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US7134609B1 (en) * 2003-05-15 2006-11-14 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluidic oscillator and method
WO2006049622A1 (en) * 2004-11-01 2006-05-11 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Improved cold-performance fluidic oscillator
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US4151955A (en) * 1977-10-25 1979-05-01 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Oscillating spray device
US5035361A (en) * 1977-10-25 1991-07-30 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluid dispersal device and method
US5853624A (en) * 1997-02-12 1998-12-29 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluidic spray nozzles for use in cooling towers and the like
US20060065765A1 (en) * 2004-09-24 2006-03-30 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Fluidic nozzle for trigger spray applications
US20110233301A1 (en) * 2009-07-28 2011-09-29 Bowles Fluidics Corporation (A Md Corporation) Rain can style showerhead assembly incorporating eddy filter for flow conditioning in fluidic circuits

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11739517B2 (en) 2019-05-17 2023-08-29 Kohler Co. Fluidics devices for plumbing fixtures
US11987969B2 (en) 2019-05-17 2024-05-21 Kohler Co. Fluidics devices for plumbing fixtures

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CN106861953A (zh) 2017-06-20
JP2017064098A (ja) 2017-04-06

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